The Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 (CSPA) was signed into
law on December 23, 2008 (Title IV of Pub. L. 110-457), and took effect
on June 21, 2009. The CSPA requires publication in the annual
Trafficking in Persons Report of a list of foreign governments
identified during the previous year as having governmental armed forces
or government-supported armed groups that recruit and use child
soldiers, as defined in the act. These determinations cover the
reporting period beginning April 1, 2016, and ending March 31, 2017.

For the purpose of the CSPA, and generally consistent with the
provisions of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, the term
"child soldier" means:

(i) any person under 18 years of age who takes a direct part in
hostilities as a member of governmental armed forces;

(ii) any person under 18 years of age who has been compulsorily
recruited into governmental armed forces;

(iii) any person under 15 years of age who has been voluntarily
recruited into governmental armed forces; or

(iv) any person under 18 years of age who has been recruited or
used in hostilities by armed forces distinct from the armed forces of a
state.

The term "child soldier" includes any person described in
clauses (ii), (iii), or (iv) who is serving in any capacity, including
in a support role, such as a "cook, porter, messenger, medic,
guard, or sex slave."

Governments identified on the list are subject to restrictions, in
the following fiscal year, on certain security assistance and commercial
licensing of military equipment. The CSPA, as amended, prohibits
assistance to governments that are identified in the list under the
following authorities: International Military Education and Training,
Foreign Military Financing, Excess Defense Articles, and Peacekeeping
Operations, with exceptions for some programs undertaken pursuant to the
Peacekeeping Operations authority. The CSPA also prohibits the issuance
of licenses for direct commercial sales of military equipment to such
governments. Beginning October 1, 2017, and effective throughout Fiscal
Year 2018, these restrictions will apply to the listed countries, absent
a presidential national interest waiver, applicable exception, or
reinstatement of assistance pursuant to the terms of the CSPA. The
determination to include a government in the CSPA list is informed by a
range of sources, including first-hand observation by U.S. government
personnel and research and credible reporting from various UN entities,
international organizations, local and international NGOs, and
international media outlets.

The 2017 CSPA List includes governments in the following countries:

1. Democratic Republic of Congo

2. Mali

3. Nigeria

4. Somalia

5. South Sudan

6. Sudan

7. Syria

8. Yemen

NIGERIA

Boko Haram attacked Abdul's village and kidnapped him when he
was 14 years old. They trained him to handle assault weapons such as
machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, and rocket-propelled grenades. The
group kept him and forced him to carry out various operations during
which he was forced to kill 18 civilians. They also forced Abdul to
gather intelligence on government forces, where he risked being
recognized and prosecuted as a Boko Haram member. After being forced to
fight for three years, Abdul decided to flee while on a spying mission,
but was recognized as Boko Haram and arrested when he entered an
internally displaced persons camp to look for his parents.

"I was forced literally to kill my best friend as an
initiation process into the army. That's something I will never
forget, and I still fight with every single day."

--Michel Chikwanine, former child soldier, DRC

Caption: Former anti-Balaka child soldiers wait to be released as
part of a UN-negotiated deal in the Central African Republic. Some
governments and government-supported militias in African, Asian, and
Middle Eastern countries force children to serve as front-line soldiers
or servants, and to guard checkpoints.

Caption: A child soldier trains in a Syrian training camp.
Recruitment and use of children in combat in Syria continues to
increase. Syrian government forces, pro-regime militias, and armed
groups, including ISIS, continue to recruit and use boys and girls as
soldiers, human shields, suicide bombers, and executioners, as well as
to fill supporting roles.

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